9-18-25 September Bass

[Bill Babler]

Well, it should be tough on the Rock in September, always has been. Not so much this year. 

Surface temp at 6:30 at Shell Knob 82 degrees. Water clarity maybe 3’. 

Neighbor and I boated close to 70 this morning with a 1/2oz. Dixie Jet jigging spoon being the main culprit.  16 pounds best 5. 
We would still be catching but it just flat got to hot to be out there with no breeze. 

Lots of chasing but they didn’t want topwater or a swimbait. I used a white spoon and he used chrome. No difference.  We casted it, fluttered it, jerked it and reeled it fast. Depending on where they were in the water column.  Every presentation worked. We only fished 3 locations in 5 hours. 

In all my years I’ve never seen the amount of shad we were around today. Millions of them from dime size to 6” gizzards and every size threadfin in between. 

This has been by far the best September fishing I’ve ever had on the Rock. 






 

[Bill Babler]

Just spoke to Phil Stone and he said there are massive schools of shad in the dam LongCreek area also.   All sizes  

He said he has also found some really good September fishing with schools of bass following the shad schools in that dam area. 

Pretty similar to what we’re finding up here. 

Even with all those shad, the last few days the bass are simply full of small crayfish.  
 

Our forage base here with all the gills, shad of every size imaginable and fish that are bulging with bellies full of crawdads makes for lots of good times. 

I simply don’t know the feeding patterns, but we’re catching suspended fish at depth of 30’ to no bottom and yet they are spitting and pooping crawfish. 

I’ve had my dive buddies tell me they have seen crayfish all over the deep trees. I can’t believe these schools of deep fish are running to the bank to catch them. 

Be a good question for the Biologist. I’m guessing however they may not know. 





 

[Quillback]

Lots of forage is a good thing.  Yeti Big Bass deal is next weekend, might be a few boats out there.

[Bill Babler]

Little more research last nite. A Tennessee studies show that if oxygen levels are sufficient it’s not uncommon for crayfish to be as deep as 30’.

Cover is also important so I’m guessing I shouldn’t be surprised we are catching deep fish that are foraging in crayfish. 

I think it’s kind of like a bobcat, he would jump over 2 rabbits to eat one quail. I’d run around a chicken breast for a ribeye. 

Even with a million shad a bass is swimming in, if he can get lobster he is going to do it. 

 

[top_dollar]

I have also caught bass suspended at the kimberling city bridge that were spitting up craws.  Unless crawdads suspend at the bridge those bass must swim quite a ways to get them.  I also have routinely caught crawdads in our traps out to 30 FOW.  Seems like the biggest ones are usually deeper than 20FOW.